From the financial crisis to the refugee crisis, and from the rule of law backsliding to the COVID-19 pandemic, European values have come under strain over the last decades. This book contributes to an already vivid discussion about the status and salience of the rule of law and other European values. The collection's chapters explore the intrinsic connection between the rule of law and values such as democracy and justice and highlight various threats to the rule of law both at the national and supranational level.
Mirroring the multi-faceted debate about the rule of law and European values, the contributions have been divided into four parts. The first part explores the use of the rule of law as a distinct value at the European level and its general implications for the European structure. It investigates the ways in which the rule of law and its various elements operate in association with other values, while noting how certain approaches to the rule of law might contribute to its erosion. Against this background, the second part examines the state of the rule of law across the Union. Looking at the rule of law and its manifestations in different European countries, this part contextualises the various approaches of the rule of law on the ground, thus facilitating a deeper practical understanding of the rule of law. Moving beyond classical notions of the rule of law, chapters in Part 3 relate the ideal to values such as justice and solidarity. Exploring how the rule of law can facilitate broader EU goals and aspirations in different European spaces, from its on-the-ground operation in judicial matters to the pan-European, the contributions draw out the link between the rule of law and sustainability, solidarity, and mutuality. The final part associates democracy with the rule of law, suggesting that threats to democracy are often indistinguishable from threats to the rule of law.
Drawing from examples during the COVID-19 pandemic and responses to it, the chapters stress the salience of seeing the erosion of the rule of law through the lens of democratic values. Not only do the various parts of the book offer a broad, inter-disciplinary analysis of the ways in which various values relate to each other, but they also stress how actions linked to the safeguarding of values at the central European level affect and are affected by the national level. As such, the volume constitutes an important addition to the expansive literature in the area of European studies and European values.
